The withholding of information about government actions in asylum seeker policy undermines its democratic accountability to the Australian people.

Tony Abbott opens the campaign office for Liberal candidate Ken Wyatt in 2010. Now he and all incumbent MPs enjoy a $300,000 advantage over their challengers at the next election.
AAP/Dean LewinsMay 24, 2015

'Better Communities' funding is supposedly non-partisan: every electorate gets $300,000 for local projects. But only incumbent MPs have a say in this spending and 60% of them are government members.

Notions of the ‘right to know’ forced Hillary Clinton to defend her use of a private email account as secretary of state - a far cry from the days when citizens didn’t even know how their representatives voted.
EPA/Andrew GombertMay 4, 2015

The distinction between the global and the local is collapsing under the pressure of climate change, economic restructuring, global migration and jihadism on the one hand and the populist and information…

Recent surveys have highlighted a deeper malaise in the public’s faith in its core institutions and leaders.
AAP/Lukas CochFebruary 9, 2015

The 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer points to an “evaporation of trust” in institutions and leaders worldwide. The annual survey finds a decline in trust overall, with more countries classified as distrusting…

Daniel Andrews and his ministers swear an oath to comply with the law, which includes the obligations of public office as a public trust.
AAP/Julian SmithDecember 4, 2014

There cannot be a more important office or more challenging role than being a member of parliament. This is especially so for government MPs and ministers, including the newly elected Victorian ministry…